After what often feels like months of frazzled ends and lacklustre colour, it might seem near-on impossible to replicate a bouncy blow-dry at home (no one has eyes at the back of their head!). But keeping your hair colour looking salon-fresh for longer is so much easier than you think.
Notebooks at the ready, we’ve got six easy-to-do tips that work for every shade, plus some specific to your hair colour…
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Switch Your Shampoo
Washing your hair too often is one of the main causes of colour fade, as every time you shampoo, a little more pigment swirls away down the plughole. The best solution is to limit the number of times you wash your hair per week. Instead of going for a full-on shampoo, why not see if you can get away with a water rinse to refresh day-2-or-3 hair?
OGX Orchid Oil Shampoo, R179,95 for 385ml, is brilliant. Free from sulphates, it uses a fade-defying blend of orchid and grape seed oils that also help limit the stripping of your hair, as well as a seriously clever UVA/UVB filter to protect hair under the harsh South African sun.
Greys: Use A Hair Colour Toner
As we age, the cells that create melanin (the pigment that gives our hair colour) stops being produced, which in turn causes strands to become increasingly grey over time. Because of this lack of pigment, grey hair is more susceptible to picking up colour from elsewhere, and a range of factors from pollution to hard water can cause your shade to develop an unwanted yellow tinge.
Instead of running to the salon to banish brassiness, stock up on an at-home toner like Chi Ionic Color Illuminate Conditioner in Silver Blonde, R395 for 250ml. Non-permanent, it goes on like a hair dye, transforming your hair with cool, icy tones that stay put for a couple of washes.
ALSO SEE: How To Embrace Your Grey Hair
ALSO SEE: How To Embrace Your Grey Hair
Blondes: Banish Brassiness with Purple Pigment
You might not have laid eyes on a colour wheel since your school days, but if you cast your mind back to your childhood art classes, you might just remember that yellow sits on the opposite side to purple. And it’s for this reason that a purple pigment works well to neutralise pesky brassy tones in blonde tresses. Harnessing that purple power, new Natur Vital Silver Blonde Toner Mask, R79,95 for 300ml, is not only affordable, but it’s also a turbocharged treatment that gets to work in five minutes and banishes brassiness. It’s packed full of plant-based keratin and pro-vitamin B5 to help repair the damage so often caused by bleaching blonde locks.
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Reds: Add Colour With Every Wash
One beauty myth that we, unfortunately, can’t debunk, red hair really does fade faster than every other colour. It’s all down to the molecule size, and as the red colour molecule is larger than other shades, it doesn’t penetrate as deeply into the hair strand – meaning it’s more likely to wash out when you shampoo. The best way to keep your colour fresh and vibrant for longer is to use a colour-depositing shampoo and conditioner, adding extra pigment to replace what’s been lost. Pureology Reviving Red Shampoo, R345 for 250ml and Joico Color Infuse Red Shampoo, R350 for 200ml, are two fab cleansers that target fade-prone areas to leave your colour uniform and super shiny.
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